Quickie

Again, the meeting went overtime - but I was not about to give up my hawking time today. I needed to be at a wrestling meet, but it had been over a week since we hunted.
Rain, rain, rain.
The birds were at weight and talking in the back of the jeep. The wind was blowing way too hard to go hawking. But I was not giving up this time.

It is supposed to rain again all weekend. Maybe I can get in some hunting time between storms, but I'm not counting on it.

I tossed both birds up and they followed impeccably. With the wind blowing so hard I wasn't hopeful about rousting a squirrel, so I was focusing on rabbits.

The spot we were hunting held both, but the cover was way thick. And it was flooded. I sloshed and tromped through the cover and jumped a rabbit. The hawks chased it, and I tried to keep up, but with the vine tangles and all, there was no chance. I did flush and reflush, but we lost it somewhere in the tangles.

I crossed over an open field into another small stretch of woods. Immediately we found a squirrel squirting through the underbrush. The hawks gave chase cruising low across the ground. the squirrel spiraled up a tree, and crossed to another. The hawks laddered up and began searching, their necks stretching in anticipation.

I started shaking vines, the squirrel moved. Gonzo crashed into the canopy of the live oaks, but the squirrel dropped below, jumped, skipped, crossed.

He leaped for the ground. I saw Tess fold and drop. They both disappeared behind cover. I heard the squirrel squeal. Gonzo piled in, then bumped off to the side.

I waded through the briers and found Tess on top of the squirrel. Apparently, she learned a new trick. I didn't have to dispatch this squirrel when I got there, Tess had already figured out a way to do that.